In 2006 Bill Burr and many of the regular comedians of The Opie & Anthony Show were on The Traveling Virus Comedy Tour, hitting large venues around the nation. Things went south when the tour came to the Philadelphia. From the jump, the unruly Philly crowd set the tone of the night by booing the first comedian off the stage and then proceeded to give hell to all other comedians on the bill. When the artist before him was booed off the stage, Burr decided to go on the offensive. Burr then spent his 12 minute set picking apart every thing about the city from its food, its sports teams, its icons, all while receiving boos from the audience. However, Burr would not let the crowd get him like they did the previous acts and kept hammering the audience until some started to turn in his favor. By the time the 12 minute set (which Burr counted down every passing minute) was over, much of the crowd gave the comedian a standing ovation. Partly because he was actually quite funny and partly because he made it through the gauntlet and didn’t back down. That night Burr became the tamer of unruly audiences and earned an incredible amount of respect from comedians and working class audiences that now adore him
"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."
Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
Posts: 13004 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008
I remember hearing about this. It must have been on Joe Rogan's podcast. I've never actually seen it before though. That 12 minutes likely slingshotted Burr to the top.
~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country
Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan
Saw this "performance" several years ago, and it is still my favorite Bill Burr "routine. Goes off script, his stable of jokes, and off-the-cuff invents some really funny insults.
"...the terrorists will never bomb you people because you're fuckin worthless and no one cares about you"
"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
Posts: 17431 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003
My roommate loves the guy, thinks he's hilarious. To me he's just really annoying. His voice grates on my ears and it seems about every other word that comes out of his mouth is an f-bomb. Pass.
Posts: 7471 | Location: Idaho | Registered: February 12, 2007
He is certainly annoying to some. The first set I recall hearing him do, and while I was driving, was this one. When I replayed for my wife, she didn't get it. When I shared with son he absolutely did, proving it's both true and inconceivable to women.
I had to pull over - I was laughing so hard at the unexpected turn of the set I was lightheaded.
I think that put him on the map. I remember him talking about it and he was doing some outdoor festival and every comedian before him was just bombing out because no one was listening and everyone was talking.
He went up and it started the same for him so he threw his set out the window and just went off the cuff ripping the local city. People slowly started listening then started to get pissed and eventually ended up on his side laughing at the whole thing.
Imagine Burr in front of an audience today who thinks it's tough. He'll be like King in Platoon: "I was in Philly in 2006. After that, it's all been gravy."
A city that prides themselves on being dicks. Bill turned it around and shoved it up their asses. To do this,impromptu,in front of a live booing crowd, just WOW! Talk about having huge balls.
Posts: 1533 | Location: Tampa Bay, Florida | Registered: July 06, 2003
Bill Burr is the perfect comedian. First, he looks like he is enjoying himself, and no doubt he is. Second, he has the perfect voice for delivery. There's no not hearing him or misunderstanding what he said. Third, he doesn't give a shit what anyone else thinks. And fourth, the majority of what he says is true. All those things together are hard to find in a single person.
_____________ "I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau
Posts: 4285 | Location: In The Swamp | Registered: January 03, 2010
